Limpopo, and consequently were simple travellers, and were
not legally required to take any steps in regard to the Government, nor
even to ask a passport. All this was written down and addressed to the
Executive Committee, who took the matter in hand.

"As they, however, accused us of being smugglers, and having somewhere
a cannon, they proceeded to the examination of my waggon. They opened
everything, ran their hands in everywhere, into biscuit boxes, among
clothes, among candles, etc., and found neither cannon nor petroleum.
The comedy of the smuggling ended, they took note of the contents of my
boxes, and then attacked us from another side. They decided to treat me
as a missionary. The Solicitor-General said to me that the Government
did not care to have French missionaries going to the other side of the
Limpopo. I said, 'these countries do not belong to the Transvaal;' to
which they replied, 'Do you know what our intentions are? Have you not
heard of the treaties which we have been able to make with the natives
and with the Portuguese?' There! that is the reply which they made to
me. They took good care not to inscribe it in the document in which they
ordered us to leave the Transvaal immediately. These are things which
they do not care to write, lest they should awaken the just
susceptibilities of other Governments, or arouse the indignation of all
true Christians. But there is the secret of the policy of the Transvaal
in regard to us missionaries; they feared us, because they know our
attachment to the natives, and our devotion to their interests.

"They then ordered me to retrace at once my steps, threatening
confiscation of our goods and the imprisonment of our persons if we
attempted to force a passage through the country. I had to pay Ј14
sterling for the expenses of this mock trial. They brought the four
native Evangelists out of the prison where they had spent two nights and
a day in a very unpleasant manner; they gave me leave to take our two
waggons out of the square of the Hotel de Ville where they had been put,
together with the Transvaal Artillery, some pieces of ordnance, a large
Prussian cannon and a French mitrailleuse from Berlin.

"We were free, we were again united, but what a sorrowful reunion! We
could hardly believe that all was ended, and that we must retrace our
steps; so many hopes dissipated in a moment! and the thought of having
to turn back after having arrived so near to our destination, was heart
breaking. We were all rather sad, asking each other if we were merely
the sport of a bad dream or if this was indeed the will of God. T
resolved to make one more effort and ask an interview with the President
of the Transvaal, Mr. Burgers. It was granted to me. I went therefore to
the Cabinet of the President and spoke a long time with the
Solicitor-General, protesting energetically against the force they had
used against us, and I discussed the matter also with the President
himself, but without being able to obtain any reasonable reply to the
objections I raised. I saw clearly that I had to do with men determined
to have their own way, and putting what they chose to consider the
interests of the State above those of all Divine and human laws.

"Their Parliament (Raad) was sitting, and I addressed myself to two of
its members whom I had seen the day before, and who had seemed annoyed
at the conduct of the Government towards us. I besought them for the
honour of their country, to bring before their Parliament a question on
the subject; but they dared not consent to this, declaring that if the
Government were to put the matter before the representatives of the
country these latter would decide in our favour, but that they could
never take the initiative.

"I had now exhausted all the means at my disposal. I did all I could to
obtain leave to continue our journey, and only capitulated at the last
extremity. I received a written order from the